


fall into place

by inacherii



Category: Ame no Mori Kawa Umi/雨ノ森 川海, BEYOOOOONDS (Band), CHICA#TETSU, Hello! Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2020-10-13 16:16:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20585375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inacherii/pseuds/inacherii
Summary: having a heart for the monster she was trained to kill, kurumi wallows between the white and blacka story of unconventional forgiveness.





	1. the hollow eyes of the night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> their family is a tether.

Too loud, too bright, and nothing seems right at all.

Her surroundings are dark, she’s in an alley, completely and entirely alone. 

Kurumi’s vampire hunting job doesn’t do her any good, letting her get beat up like this. She’s got two gashes down her sides that definitely look like they’ll scar. Blood is trickling down her lip and her short hair is messy, the dried blood in her hair is almost covering her vision. It’s odd, she finds, that she’s going to die so early on as a hunting squad leader. The vampire ahead of her, completely gone, was wide-eyed, eyes deep red, emaciated body lunging towards her. She gives it the fight it wants, shifting herself upwards to push it away. The silver badge on her coat reflects the light from a streetlamp nearby. Kurumi pulls off the long, black overcoat, if she’s going to die she’s making sure the vampire dies with her. 

The vampire is zombie-like, she calls it far-gone. A special kind that’s so messed up and thirsted it becomes a crude shell of what it used to be. Its eyes are deep and hollow, decay is beginning to set, but it isn’t much.

Swiftly, she slugs the vampire on the cheek with silver knuckles on her fist. She sees the pistol she dropped earlier in the fight, behind a trash can and several trash bags surrounded by rats. Dead rats litter the ground, with two bite marks each in their flesh.

Kurumi attempts to push it further into the alley, closer to where her pistol is. She gives a few punches and smiles. The sizzle of the silver burning into the vampire’s skin gives her a kick. The creature snarls, winces in pain, it gives Kurumi enough time to bandage one wound well enough so her body won’t give out in the fight. It limps up again, struggling to push itself towards Kurumi. She takes the opportunity to run towards the trash can surrounded by dead rats. The stench is overwhelming. 

Though she’s hopeless now, the vampire is face to face with her. Hollow, red eyes staring into her very soul. 

She can see its fangs, unlike the others, they’re yellow. And she wouldn’t forget the putrid breath, but what else could she think before she eventually dies a sick and slow death. 

The struggle with the vampire is clear, she’s propping herself up on the cold concrete ground. She has one hand on its neck and another on its right arm. The left is clawing at her face she’ll soon say goodbye to. 

In the end, though, the one that ends up dead isn’t her. A shot rings through her ears from the distance. 

The vampire’s corpse falls on her, as to which she pushes away. Kurumi turns her head towards the noise, in the city’s dim lights she can see two figures looking to her direction. They’re two small figures, in long, black overcoats with the silver gleaming badge that says “055.” 

“I’m glad to see you two again.” A sigh leaves her lips, Kurumi’s grinning from ear to ear on the cold ground, covered in dried blood. “Thought you would’ve left me for dead.” When she sees the disapproving shock in their reactions she laughs. “Kidding!”

“Captain, we wouldn’t just leave you like that.” The first crosses her arms, she looks serious but Kurumi knows she isn’t being serious at all. “Besides, it was Miimi’s idea to check your last coordinates. Maybe you should thank her cap.” 

A girl with puffy cheeks and a side-ponytail scoffs, she pulls up Kurumi with no troubles. “Both of you are equally as insane.” She huffs. “We’ve got to take care of ourselves better, especially with Kokoro out of commission for awhile.”

Kurumi is hauled, literally, on her squad member’s shoulders. Berated for the unconventional ride home. 

Before she passes out, she manages to give them a tiny whisper of a thanks.

"Kurumi! You're going to be late!" 

The fuzzy feeling of waking up early, too early, in the morning bothers her. The patter of the rain outside already tells her it's going to be a rough day at the academy already. She forces herself out of bed after hearing her mother's yelling. It's a Saturday morning that could be used to sleep in some more, maybe do her school homework, but she isn't. Kurumi is busy "fulfilling the family tradition" and "keeping the spirit of their clan alive." Though she doesn't necessarily care for any of it.

Kurumi waddles in her rainbow pajamas outside, her parents are already preparing to leave in their black suits, hunting again. 

"We'll be home by late evening, do good at school. Make us proud." 

She waits a little before she decides to tell them. "But I've joined the dance club at school, and I was wondering if I could go to the practice today?" Kurumi had joined purely out of interest, it was what she truly wanted to devote her life to, after all. Not killing some supernatural being she's never felt threatened by or even seen in her entire life. 

"Kurumi, what did we say? No extra things, nothing." Her mother's tone is sharp and condescending, Kurumi feels a pang in her heart. 

"But mom!" 

"I don't care Kurumi." Her father begins, it doesn't feel like he knows how he hurts her. "Don't be late to class."

That day she isn’t late to class, she actually sits through the whole day berating her mother in her head. She doesn’t want to be forced into whatever the hell her parents are doing, killing vampires, she doesn’t want to become her parents. Kurumi comes home late that night, having gone to the dance practice. She sets her bag aside, waiting to get scolded but instead she’s greeted by nothing. The lights are off, she can’t see anything until she turns them on. 

That’s when she sees the bloody remains of her mother and father on the walls. Their eyes panicked and struck by fear. Long gashes through their torsos and limbs torn off, thrown against the furniture. 

Kurumi is shaking, her eyes are blurry and she suddenly can’t see. She reaches for a bright pink paper in her mother’s hand and reads.

“Kurumi, we will always love you.”

Her tears begin to take form. And so does her hatred.

She doesn’t want to become her parents, but she’s realized that she has to.

"You're absolutely crazy!" 

Kurumi is sitting in the bedroom with her two saviors, it's dim, easier for her eyes to adjust to the two beaming pairs of eyes staring directly at her. It's her two members, undeniably her favorites, but they don't look as happy as they did the night before. Their eyes are distraught, dark circles developing beneath them, and it looks like Minami had just finished crying. It makes her frown, though, because Minami rarely ever cries. 

Her chuckle follows the deafening silence. "You guys didn't have to wait for me to wake up." 

"Yeah, but Miimi was gonna murder me if I didn't wait with her."

Momohime is immediately hit on the shoulder. “Ow! Hey I’m telling the honest truth here!” 

Minami rolls her eyes, her arms crossed and failing to meet Kurumi’s expecting eyes. “Okay, sure, I told you to wait with me but that’s because Kurumi would want to see the both of us when she woke up.” The girl sniffles a little, and she’s laughed at. “Would you guys stop that?!” 

The three of them laugh together when Kurumi sits herself up in the bed. The troublesome two give her longing stares. 

“C’mere you idiots.” 

The team falls asleep on Kurumi’s shoulders as Kurumi wonders what she’s done to deserve this family.


	2. silent king

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a chance meeting in the lonesome light

Reina won’t forget the last time it was this quiet. Everything seemed like it was just white noise. 

Tenderly, the wind caresses her cheek as she begins to reminisce. The memory of family, the memory of happiness, and the memory of the noise she used to embrace. 

The city’s lights are dim, tinted yellow, and the world feels loud again as the noise begins to fill her ears again. She can feel the cold sting of the air, and the wet, pungent smell of an old rain. 

She forgets the struggle, the burning ache of her canines, the loneliness that overcomes her as she remembers that her family is all but here. She has an articulate memory when it comes to her parents. Kind, perfect, the caring parents that overlooked her once perfect life in the sanctuary she once called home. 

Her mother and her father, the advocates of the Ichioka clan, are evidence of Reina’s own doubts, fears, and regrets. They’re gone.

As a child she’d remembered them, how they’ve treated her, how they’ve loved her. But she could never remember their faces, despite their family picture being on her nightstand, she doesn’t remember, no matter how much she wants to. 

She’ll never forgive who did this to her family, whoever did this to her. Reina knows the name, after all. This time Reina knows she’ll be able to enact her grand plan on vengeance though, when she arrives at a small park on the outskirts of the city. Originally she had planned on finding a lonesome human to feed on for the night, much to her surprise she did. A lone girl sitting at a table, just under the dim, yellow light of the lamppost. The table is made of stone, its top a chess board. The girl’s face is shrouded in a shadow, focused on the chess board. She’s playing a game against herself, it seems. Reina leaves her hideaway in the shadow of the trees and sits down in front of the girl. The girl doesn’t flinch, she continues to mumble to herself.

“Why are you here? It’s so late at night.” The girl looks at her, she looks young, with wide glassy eyes and strangely emotionless expression. Then, she looks back down and begins to reset the board. In silence the black pieces are given to Reina. To no avail, the girl doesn’t speak, yet she looks at Reina expectantly. Reina moves her pawn forward, and expression finally comes onto the girl’s face in the form of a smile. It looks as though she’s about to say something. 

She doesn’t she only moves her knight forward. There’s something about this game that ticks her senses. They play until the girl’s knight overtakes one of her pawns.  
“I like to spend time to myself, but I’m glad that you, a stranger, decided to provide me good company tonight.” The girl smiles as she picks up Reina’s pawn and takes it into her hands. “Unless you have other intentions?” The girl’s voice sounds familiar, the way she speaks is regal, unfamiliar to the city. Reina takes one peek to her coat and recognizes the crest, a silver arrow across a stake. “It's awful. The feeling that you’re missing something.” 

Reina blinks, moving her knight forward with an attempt to protect her king. “How did you know that I’m searching? Or, what I’m searching for?” The girl looks at her with smiling eyes, the silver badge covering her heart shines in the light.

“You and me are the same, aren’t we?” The girl begins to pick off at Reina’s defenses. “I can see it in your eyes, vampire.” She hums, holding Reina’s pawns hostage on the other side of the table. The light creates a glint, a knowing look in the other’s eyes. “Dare I say, an Ichioka vampire?”

“How have you..?” 

The chess player pauses in between her thoughts, her smile is sincere and it feels like something Reina has forgotten. “I’m exactly who you think I am.” Reina’s eyes wander back to the crest on the girl’s chest and her eyes begin to glow red. Her enhanced vision allows her to deduce the fact that the girl is from a brilliant vampire hunting family feared and renowned throughout. The girl is a Shimakura, by the way her blood smells like ashes. It’s the same crest that the killer of her clan bears. Reina begins to tense up, ready to defend herself before the girl stops her. “I’m not going to hurt you. Actually, I’d like to talk, if you have the time.” 

Reina considers it, an offer from one of her greatest known enemies in the world, and the more she thinks about it, her fanged grin begins to widen. “I have the time. Do tell me what you have to say, hunter.” 

“For one,” the Shimakura chuckles to herself, her expression is content, “I am no hunter.” She picks off another pawn off of Reina’s defense. “I am Shimakura Rika, the daughter of Shimakura Akiyama, the inheritor to the chair.” Rika’s smile falters. “Brilliant isn’t it?”

“It is.” Reina moves a knight forward, taking her first means of offense despite her king on the brink of attack. “Life for you must be simple.”

The young inheritor laughs at her, bringing her bishop into the fray. “Oh, it really isn’t, but you wouldn’t know, and that’s okay.” She beams at Reina, noticing small hostility. “But my point is, I would like to get rid of it all, with your help of course.” The defense in front of her seems to crumble. “I’d like to know of your own ambitions, though I feel as though I already know.”

“I wish to improve humanity.” Reina’s defense is fortified again as she takes one of Rika’s knights into her hands. Rika’s face is full of thorough shock.  
“You’re interesting.” Rika retaliates using a pawn. “I’m guessing you’re on the same route as mine then. You’re looking for a little revenge.” 

They smile at one another in a shared understanding. “Correct, then I’m sure you know why?” 

“Of course! Your family was a magnificent study. My, I haven’t heard of any big vampire clan looking to work with humanity. Real trailblazers, I’d say.” Rika takes Reina’s queen. “I do see your point now.” 

Reina’s deep red eyes stare into Rika’s cunning. They’ve reached an appreciation for each other. “I like you.” 

“I do say, we are one and the same, Ichioka.” It seems Reina’s last defense has been broken. “We search for the same thing. My family’s existence hinders humanity from its advancement, as you’ve stated before. I’ll help you, you help me.” 

“I’m glad,” Reina chuckles, “We don’t have to do any negotiating.” 

“Oh, of course we don’t.” Rika picks up the black king piece, a proud smile on her face. “I like playing with you, let’s play again soon.” 

The girls begin their great game of vengeance and disappear into the night.


	3. coming to terms with the afterlife.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> to find happiness in what she finds hopelessness

A small voice breaks the silence

“Promise you’ll stay beside me no matter what?” 

Momohime and Minami are getting ready to go on another hunt when Minami asks, and it shocks the young hunter more than anything. The gray of their shared apartment with their squad leader feels much more gray than it used to. She's starting to notice Minami's slow descent into something entirely new.

“Uh.. Yeah? I mean, of course.” Momohime stumbles over her words, the other hunter’s question was so out of the blue for her. She’s fidgeting with her hunting gear, gun and knife strapped to her sides. Minami huffs while putting on her black coat. “Why do you ask?”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Momohime sees her grin, she can’t help but smile back. Minami’s behavior still bothers Momohime, it bothers her every day. They were both born into vampire hunting, but Minami was always much more passionate. Momohime always thought about who they were killing, what they were fighting for. But Minami never seemed to think about it, killing other (living and dead) beings. 

They’re at their home, the apartment of Squad 055, but sometimes it doesn’t feel like home to Momohime. It feels like a prison.

A sad, gray prison that's full of nothing but murderers. Momohime herself included.

The sun begins to set, and Minami begins to walk out the door, Momohime won’t stop her. She follows instead.

###### 

Minami split with Momohime as soon as they reached the rumored alley. They’d received a mission to kill a high-class vampire. The commissioners never specified what the vampire looked like, but she knows. Minami is all too familiar with the deep, dark blood-red eyes. Minami aimed to kill all the high-class vampires, she aimed to kill the vampire with the deepest dark in their eyes. Bright-eyed vampires were easy kills to her, they didn’t matter and didn’t belong to anything. They were worthless.

Though she never killed a high-class vampire before, so when she heard about the mission she’d been more than confident to take it. 

The smell of dead animals and trash filled her nose the further she went into the alley. She’d supposed it’d been a hiding place for the vampire as it was harder to track their scent. Minami loaded her gun with silver bullets, the glint glowed in the moonlight. She stopped when she heard the rustling behind her. 

Minami turned to shoot, but she was met with deep red eyes. Her trigger finger struggled, she couldn’t bring herself to shoot, Minami could feel herself starting to cry out of frustration.

“You’re too eager.”

The vampire towers over her, Minami can make out short hair, and a frown. 

“I didn’t want to do this to you.”

Minami doesn’t remember anything other than the pain in her neck, and her heart.

“Minami?! Miimi! Where are you!?”

###### 

Momohime runs through the alleyway, she’s been out in the city for an hour and she’s looked almost everywhere. Until Momohime reaches an alley that she doesn’t think is significant, until she sees a body on the ground. 

A corpse. Minami’s corpse. 

Momohime sees the mark, the blood creeping out of her body. Minami doesn’t have a pulse, she’s lying in a pool of blood. 

She doesn’t take a second guess. 

Momohime takes her home.

###### 

“Momohime?”

She snaps awake the next night, she’s in her pajamas as she runs to Minami’s room. Minami had been asleep since she’d found her. The room is the same as she left it, Minami is not. Momohime took one look at Minami’s bright red eyes and started to panic. 

“Okay Miimi I don’t know how to tell you this-”

Minami looks at her and smiles. It’s sad. 

“I know.” The smile remains. “Can you get Takase-san?” 

“Yes! Of course! Yeah!” Momohime almost trips on her bunny slippers, she turns back and stops before the door. Minami can’t see the sad gaze in Momohime’s eyes. “I still..” She hesitates. “I still love you, no matter what.”

Momohime realizes she’d forgotten the last time Minami had smiled. 

###### 

Minami wakes in a cold forest's clearing, she's surrounded by the pearly white of snow but she can't see anybody. It's dark, so she can barely see anyway, but the brightness of the snow unsettles her. The cold doesn't bother to hurt her, she's in her pajamas but she doesn't feel anything. None of it feels real. 

A shout rings in her eyes and she sees Momohime on the other side, she's in a bright pink coat and a fluffy white hat. She's childish, smiling, making a snowman in the darkness of the snowy clearing. Her friend is playing around by herself, laughing to herself, the feeling scratches at the walls that cover Minami's heart.

"Minami!" 

The shout echoes in the snow, in her ears. 

"Minami!"

This time, Momohime is looking at her. She's waving with the widest grin she's seen on Momohime since their childhood. 

Minami can't feel her limbs, they're moving to Momohime on their own. There's a shift in Momohime's eyes, almost as if the happiness is beginning to disappear. 

"Momohime..?" Minami tries to speak but she can't, her mouth is open but she can't say anything. Then that's when it hits her. Minami's body lunges and tackles Momohime down onto the snow. The burning sensation in her canines overcomes her and her mouth latches itself onto Momohime's neck.

Red stains the bright white of the snow.

Minami gasps awake, her heart is pounding out of her chest and struggling to take in air. It was a dream, a nightmare more so. She turns to look at Momohime's bed, and thankfully she's deep asleep. She hates that she can smell the sweetness of Momohime's blood, and the new red gleam in her eyes that she sees the red orbs looking back at her in the mirror. She wants her humanity back. 

Minami puts on a coat and she leaves the apartment breathless and shaken, jumping down to the sidewalk and steps into the dark city she's so familiar with. 

The sirens and the noise that fills the night overwhelms her as she turns into a corner on the edges of the city, looking to clear her mind. She finds a small park, there are trees, flowers, benches, and a playground. But the sight scares her, a girl sitting on a swing in the middle of the park. 

She sees the silver badge and a welcoming smile gleaming in the night.

_ October 2nd, 2019_

_Entry 1_

_I’m scared _  
I’m scared  
I’m scared 

_I’m really really scared _

_What’s after this? Everything feels like it’s caving in on me and it’s only been a week. _

_God I’m so scared. _

_Minami was turned yesterday on our mini-mission, I've been watching her, she just left the house. I’m worried about her, but I’m not going to chase her. I’d think she’d kill me._

_There are a lot of bad things that could happen to Minami, but I think this is the one that’ll tip it over. I mean, she’s been at this her whole life. I know Miimi enough, she’s going to freak out so much she’ll die. _

_God, even I’m scared of Miimi. She’s different. We’re killers, but somehow she’s worse. I don’t know. Hard to explain. _

_I’m a killer, I’m just like her. _

_My first time, ever, on Squad 055, I had to kill a family (The ministry calls them clans, but they were different)._

_They lived in the woods just south of here, really nice, cozy cottage. Captain would’ve wanted to live there, she talks about living in the woods a lot. _

_Still, I had to walk in. It was dinner for them, they looked like a normal, human family. But the father attacked me, and I felt so threatened, I don’t know what came over me, I was scared. I killed the father, then the mother tried to kill me, so I killed her too._

_The daughter, their only child, stared at me from the other side of the dinner table. I think she was smiling, not sure though, it’s all blurry. Blurry. Except I can’t forget the way she looked at me. I didn’t kill her in the end. _

_They didn’t do anything wrong, but that’s what I was trained to do. And I hate it. I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it._

_I’m worried, I’m scared more than ever. _

_I hope Miimi is okay. _

_I hope I’m okay. _

_Maybe we’ll be okay in the end. _

_Kokoro is coming home soon, I’m not sure how this will go, she’s not going to like what happened to Miimi. She might do something, I don’t know. It’s hard to know anything for sure now. Thought for sure Miimi wouldn’t turn out this way, but she did. Something big is happening. _

_For now though. We can leave it at this.  
Good luck to me, and I hope I make it out alive. _

Momohime closes the orange book, the ink of her last words set and she smiles. It’s good to let it out now and then. It's morning by now, Kurumi should be just getting out of bed for work. It's just about four o'clock and the sun hasn't risen yet. Momohime hides the orange journal under her pillow, which is also orange (it should camouflage, she has nothing to worry about). She hears sounds coming from their kitchen, and the smell of eggs fills her senses. Kurumi has a schedule for everything, including breakfast. Today is Wednesday, egg day. 

"Hey Hime, get the bacon out of the fridge." 

Momohime laughs at her. "I thought you were over bacon ever since the whole lettuce and bacon thing last week!" She opens the fridge slowly but hesitates. "Isn't this stuff kinda unhealthy too? I mean, processed meats." 

"Stressful times call for drastic measures. Give me the processed bacon." The fridge is way colder than she remembers, reaching and tossing the bag to Kurumi. She's busy with the eggs and bacon now, Momohime wants something to do. She waddles in her pajamas over to the counter, the daily newspaper spread across it. There's nothing new, a new statue being built, a blood drive for charity, and an increase in mysterious attacks (but it's not like she isn't aware of the last one). "Want any veggies in your omelet? Actually, I already know the answer." Kurumi does not throw in the bell peppers and onions into the pan, much to Momohime's delight. It's just eggs at that point. The lump of a freshly cooked egg is thrown on a plate and the plate slides in her direction. Kurumi starts to make one for herself. 

"Is Miimi going to be okay?" Momohime reaches for a fork, comically in their spoons cup, lightly poking at the omelet. 

"Isn't it too early to ask the hard-hitting questions? Could've waited a couple hours so I could think about it." Just as Momohime opens her mouth, Kurumi shushes her. "Kidding. Thought about it all night on patrol. She'll be okay." 

Momohime almost stabs through her eggs. "How do you even know? She's a vampire now, aren't we supposed to kill her? It's against the code."

"Not against the code if they don't find her." Laughing, Kurumi gives herself a plate full of peppers. "Besides, Miimi's still our Miimi. She always will be, our angry little hot-headed baby." They smile together, Kurumi's always good at lifting the mood. But the edges of Kurumi's lips twitch into a frown slightly. "Though," she sets her omelet on a plate, "I'm sure we're going to have to be extra careful from now on. Going to have to take care of Miimi while she's going through her first stages. I've worked with a couple that have just turned back when I was a rookie." 

"We have to watch out for Kokoro, right?" Momohime remembers Kokoro had sent them a memo about a week ago that she'd be coming back to Japan from France soon. For the past two years, she'd been on a mission, they haven't seen each other in a while. But she does remember that Kokoro hates vampires, probably more than Momohime does herself. Especially now that Minami had become one. She hopes Kokoro changed though, for the better. 

"Oh yeah, Koko for sure. I'll talk to her before anything gets out of hand." Kurumi sets her plate on the other side of the counter, standing so she could face Momohime while she eats. "It'll be okay. You worry too much." 

Momohime hums. "Yeah, maybe I do worry too much." 

Soon enough, Kurumi leaves for her day job. 

Momohime is alone with her thoughts again.

She's terrified. Deadly terrified. 

A girl is sitting on one of the park's swings. She's small, wearing a nice uniform. In the dark, completely alone and a shiny badge glows in the dark. 

That badge reminds her of her past. The crest of an arrow across a stake. She wonders who this girl is. 

Minami used to attend a hunting school. She graduated early, that's one accomplishment she can be proud of. She spent all her years trying to beat records, trying to be the best, trying to be the one her parents could be the proudest of. Hunting School wasn't one of her proudest accomplishments though, she never beat those records in the end. Continuously, consistently, second place. 

Her memories of the academy are covered by the relentless training of the Administration, and the warm arms of her new family. 

She doesn't know why this remnant of her past would come back to haunt her, especially now, but she's going to confront it. Minami decides to approach the girl. 

"Do I know you?" Minami asks the girl, the girl looks up at her from the swing. It sends a chill down Minami's now undead spine. 

The girl smiles at her, she seems like she means no harm. "Hm. Do I know you?" Only the girl laughs, Minami is just scared. Her gut tells her something is wrong. "I do keep running into vampires lately. Maybe it's my charm.." 

"You're also sitting outside, completely alone in the middle of the night." Minami sighs, taking a seat on the swing next to the girl. It feels like she's taking a major risk. The girl knows she's a vampire, but it's already evident through the bright red of her own eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm your worst enemy." The girl winks at her playfully, it doesn't seem like she's being serious. "Shimakura Rika." 

Minami can't tell if this was planned or if it was simply coincidence, though it feels like the latter. 

Shimakura Rika was the name holding Minami from everything she ever wanted back in the Academy. 

Shimakura Rika was the name of the eternal number one. Though most thought her family paid her way, or just by their sheer influence in the hunting community, she was renown as naturally talented at the hunt. Hell, their squad works under her family. 

"You're not going to kill me, are you?" She's tensed up, her feet are just ready to run in the case that this girl pulls out a knife to kill her.

"Of course not!" Rika laughs, her feet move to push herself on the swing. "I want to get to know you. I'm over the whole killing vampires thing, trying something new!" She smiles, it's of pure intention. "I don't get a lot of friends out here in the middle of the night anyway. But are you going to kill me?" 

"No! Not at all. I wouldn't try." Minami puffs up her cheeks and she frowns. "I'd die trying." It feels like she's going to cry, she really doesn't want to. Minami picks up her feet quickly but she feels Rika's quizzical gaze on her back. 

"You could at least talk about your feelings first. You look like you need it." Rika calls out to her in a serious tone, Minami feels uneasy. Who used to be her worst enemy is offering her a shoulder to lean on. At least Minami considered Rika her rival, but not Rika. Rika probably doesn't even know her, she graduated at least a year before Minami did. "I'm here. I can help you."

Minami takes a seat back down, something in Rika's gaze makes her feel secure, safe, for once. She decides to confront her fears again.

"I've lost my humanity. I'm scared. I'm scared I'm going to turn on the people I love. I'm scared I'm going to change into something I don't want to become." Her voice starts to shake, Rika reaches to hold onto her hand and squeezes it a little. "I've trained my entire life to kill vampires. It's all I've ever known but now," tears fall down her cheeks, "I don't know anything anymore..."

"It's good, though. Change." Rika smiles at her, the kind gesture makes the tears flow even faster. Minami still doesn't understand. "Change is good. Everything will be different now, but that doesn't mean everything will be bad. I know you're scared, walking into the unknown so suddenly." The park's lights flicker a little, but none of them flinch. "Go into the unknown, it's scary, I know. But I'll be there with you every single step of the way." 

Minami is a mumbling mess, her eyes feel swollen. "You've only known me for an hour at most, why are you being so kind?" 

"You're special. Okamura." Minami flinches then, Shimakura knows her name. Somehow, it doesn't scare her. "You're just going through a rough patch in your life. It's a new chapter." Rika grins at her, her grasp on Minami's hand is warm and comforting. "Come to terms with the afterlife." 

They enjoy each other's company in silence. Watching the city's starless sky above them as Minami listens to the soothing tunes Rika sings to her.

She's filled with freedom.

Minami had left her an hour ago at the park swings, she's swinging by herself again. Except she isn't alone. 

"I know you're there. Please, come out of the shadows." Rika calls towards a dark corner of the park, behind the shrubbery three figures emerge. They wear dark clothing, brandished with knives of silver. 

"Miss Shimakura, why didn't you order us to kill Okamura? She's a vampire now." The girl in the middle speaks, she has short, boyish hair. She's the leader of the bunch. 

Rika continues to swing. "Didn't I say? She's special. You should know, you were eavesdropping." 

"You've been leaving the family estate in the dead of night for the past few weeks. We've been tasked to protect you, we're doing our job." Rika laughs at her, much to her frustration. 

"You're doing a great job! I'm not dead yet." Rika hums as she continues to swing. She's childlike. "Miyo, you're worrying way too much. I can take care of myself." 

"We can't leave you out in the city alone like this, Miss." Another girl speaks up, she has longer hair than the other two and she's significantly short. Rika recalls that her name is Satoyoshi. 

"I appreciate the concern, you guys, but really. Let yourselves be known next time. I almost had a heart attack when I saw one of you in the bushes!" 

Miyo groans, tapping her foot against the gravel. "It's time to go back, It's almost morning." She approaches Rika seriously, bowing to her while Rika laughs. "We've prepared a car for you."

"Hm. No need." Rika shrugs. "I can take a late-night train and walk back. Taking the train is more fun." They watch as she picks up her bag from the side of the picnic table. "You all should come with me. We deserve bonding time! I'm sorry for leaving you all hanging. I won't keep you in the dark about what I'm doing from now on." 

They all sigh in relief, following Rika to the nearby train station as the sun begins to rise.


	4. monopoly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the playing board is set.

Minami hasn’t come back to their home in days. She hasn’t forgotten them, not at all. She loves her family, which is why she chooses not to return to them. 

Minami is going to hurt them. 

She knows they’re after her, Momohime and Kurumi, maybe Kokoro too. But she’s still too scared to finally face them. And she hates that. Despite Rika’s kind words, she still can’t get over herself and her new form. For the past three days Minami had been living off of rat blood, disgusting and vile, but nevertheless better than consuming human blood. 

Wandering through the night she keeps circling the same places, the park, the main street, and now the alleyway where she was attacked. Minami doesn’t believe she’ll find anything of substance soon, she’s only looking for nice shelter to keep her alive for enough time. She plans on getting used to her new body, used to it enough that she’ll feel safe living with her family again. Minami is grateful for her new body though, as soon as she picks up on a noise. 

A rustle comes from behind her. Sharply she turns to find it, but she finds nothing. The lights in the alleyway go out, she sees the sparks land on the ground when she feels a subtle touch on her shoulder. Minami leaps back, shocked and out of breath, and her eyes begin to adjust to the darkness. 

The woman, the vampire from before had come back to haunt her. She has a kind smile, but Minami only sees it as wicked. She shrieks when the ruby-eyed vampire walks towards her. 

“I only want to talk.”

Shakily, Minami backs further away. “Get away!” She grasps for her knife, careful as to not cut herself with silver, and holds it in front of her. On her other hand she holds her bag. “Don’t get any closer.” 

The vampire only continues to walk towards her as Minami’s breaths get shorter. “I’m here to present you with a deal.” 

“I’m not joining you!” Minami is met with the cold front of a wall against her back. She’s stuck, her eyes darted around, but she has no means of escape. “I don’t care who you are, or what you’re doing. You’re a vampire.”  
“And you, too, are a vampire.” The tall vampire doesn’t threaten her, she doesn’t attack her even though Minami is trapped. “I want to help you.” 

Rage fills Minami. “How? You did this!” The grin on the woman’s face widens as Minami’s eyes get brighter. “You’re not here to help me.”

“You’re right.” She chuckles, her hands haven’t moved from the pockets of her black coat that matches the night scenery. “I’m here to give you a choice.” Minami gasps, the woman moves close enough so that they can see each other eye to eye. Though, she wants nothing to do with the woman who had changed her life for the worse. “You’re going to join us, or you’re going to hurt them.” The woman moves one hand out of her pocket, almost causing her to stab if the vampire hadn’t dodged it immediately. She shows Minami a photo of her, Momohime, Kurumi, and Kokoro on her 12th birthday. The photo shows a young child in front of a cake, frowning even though she’s surrounded by the smiling individuals she knows as family. “You don’t want to hurt them, do you?”

Emotions begin to fill Minami as she begins to become overwhelmed. Her breaths get sharp and she feels like she’s going to lose consciousness. 

“No..!” Fear envelops Minami as she throws down her knife. The echo of it’s clang rings in her ears. She reaches inside her bag for her gun, still loaded with the bullets she failed to fire from their first encounter. “I’m not going to hurt them!” 

Minami shoots. 

The bang sounds throughout the block, she had shot the vampire in the stomach. Out of instinct, Minami runs away from the scene, as the woman left on the concrete ground smiles. 

“Oh, you will.”

Momohime and Kurumi venture out into the dark city in search of work to do. The Federation hadn’t sent them any work, but they choose to look out. At least Momohime chooses to. 

Minami hadn’t come back in days now, they’ve started to worry long before, it’s their second night out searching for her. Every turn is like stepping into a labyrinth. 

The two keep wandering, they can only see with a flashlight, the lights had gone out for some reason. Kurumi, with experience, starts to get suspicious of their surroundings. The alleyway is quiet, they can’t hear anything other than their footsteps and the metal of their gear. 

“Hey, look at that.”  
Kurumi’s flashlights shines on a human corpse, covered in a pool of blood and in the moonlight. They don’t trust their surroundings, they stalk closer until they hear a pained groaning. 

Momohime tries to speak but Kurumi pulls her against the wall, with her hand on her mouth. The moonlight lets them see a shadow, of a limping, humanlike creature moving towards them. As it moves closer, Momohime watches Kurumi grip her silver knife. Before Momohime can see the creature’s face, Kurumi disappears from sight. Then, she hears the knife cut into flesh, and a ghastly, terrifying decapitated head rolls into her sight. Its eyes are hollow, and its fangs are yellow and almost decaying.

“That’s the fourth one this week.” Kurumi shrugs, frowning at the blood on her hunter’s cloak. “I brought you along so we could start tracking them.” She wipes off the oddly dark red specks on her knife with a handkerchief, handing it to Momohime. “I have a good feeling it has something to do with Miimi’s disappearance.” 

Momohime stares at the red specks, squinting. “I think it was bleeding while it was walking here. Maybe it left a trail?” 

“Tch. Alright, just lead the way.” 

An unwell feeling begins to sit in Kurumi’s stomach.

Reina is sitting down, bleeding through her stomach. She holds onto her wound tightly. The elevator button lights up at the number 47, the number in which their sanctuary lies. A sound rings as the elevator stops at floor 47, a red light fills the room and it seems to scan Reina. The door opens while Reina coughs up blood into her hand. The room she sees from the elevator is dark, from there she can only see the window, which surrounds most of the penthouse. The shape of a figure moves towards her. A tall girl with a high ponytail smiles at her. 

“Welcome back, Ichioka-san.” The girl speaks with a bland, unemotional tone. “I see that you’re hurt.” She’s then picked up, and taken to one of their white sofas. The girl disappears into the darkness of the room. “Why have you been hurt? It is a gunshot wound.” 

Reina glared at her, the girl’s smile doesn’t falter but she moves towards her, noticing the blood covering Reina’s stomach. The girl in white treats her, using pliers to pull out the silver bullet. Her stomach is wiped clean as she is bandaged. Reina gathers the strength again to speak.

“Thank you, Saya.” The girl keeps smiling at her all the same, swiftly moving the sit on a chair to observe Reina. Reina has her attention elsewhere. “What is the status on the blood keeps?” 

A new voice enters the room. “Almost complete.” The sound of writing stops, the flicker of light comes from a lamp turning on. “We’ll have full control over the city’s blood drives in two weeks time.” 

“And the drugs?” 

The voice hesitates. “We will eventually get that under our control too, but it hasn’t been much of a priority compared to the blood drives.” 

Reina hums, lying on her back. “I trust your judgement.” Their plan is in motion. “Soon, we can act.” 

“I liked your plan, when I first heard about it.” The voice speaks, the writing continues. “Soon we’ll have control over every vampire in this city, even the unwilling. It’s ingenious.” 

“It couldn’t have been done without you.” Reina replies with a grin on her face. “You have the most power in the city after all.” 

A soft laugh fills their ears. “No, I owe it to you.” The pen is set down on the table. “It’s just the drugs. The humans are my best customers. I owe the money to you, and our revolution.” The white furniture of the room glows in the moonlight, and the other girl moves from her desk to sit beside Saya. A small girl with shorter hair, glasses shielding her eyes. “Though, you’re going to use all of our money if you keep staining our sofas.”

“Nevermind that. Thank you, Shiori.” Reina holsts herself upwards, to face the two girls. “Saya, do you have anything to report?”

“I have been scouting!” Creepily, the girl squeaks unnaturally with enthusiasm. “The elite hunter from France, from that family, is going to come back soon.” A wicked smile is on her lips. “And I’ve heard, stolen a letter from the Federation, she’s coming back with the sole remaining royal vampire.” 

“Then our revolution will be in motion.” Reina nods, thanking the each of them. “We will be able to eliminate the Federation sooner than I’d thought.”

“That’s perfect!” The elevator’s bell rings as the doors had opened. Rika, dressed in white, makes herself known as she walks to the three of them. She’s accompanied by three guards, one holds a board. “I hear that everything is going just swell.” 

“It is as you said.” Saya and Shiori nod to Reina and leave the room, congregating into their own in the penthouse. Reina takes off her bloodied coat and sets it beside her. “I didn’t expect you to actually be correct.” 

Rika sits in front of Reina, her hands on her lap as she calls for her guard to set down the board. The short-haired guard places the board on the table before them, moving the chess pieces into place. “I know a lot more about the Federation than you think, I’m not a useless daughter. There’s a lot more I can provide to you than just this.” 

“Perfect.” Reina moves her first pawn, black, on the chess board. “Then let’s play.”

A game of ruin begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s going to be awhile, kinda in a rough patch right now! hang tight


	5. reunions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a reunion, several, under the most unfortunate of circumstances.

Kurumi slams down what she thinks is the sixth shot of that night, though she’s unhealthily a heavy drinker, it’s not much to her but she’s getting a little dizzy. So much had been happening all at once and she needed to let go just for a night, the stinging of her eyes makes her wheeze. Kokoro would be home tomorrow, which right now seems to be one of the more major problems going on. She never knew Kokoro as someone to be tolerant. 

Minami was another issue. The girl, their most decorated hunter, mysteriously gets turned into a vampire one night and then disappears. Momohime has kept telling her the past week that she’ll return on her own, but she doesn’t have the emotional capacity to trust Momohime’s gut, no matter how trusty it can be. 

Momohime is yet another issue, but not as much as the other two. She’s a lot less of a bother, but she’s been struggling without the other two. Kurumi runs two jobs, part-time as a chef and hunter by night just to support them, but she can’t even support Momohime as much as she should. She fears Momohime will get restless and disappear like Minami did. 

The bar is particularly empty that night, it’s a spot she’d just discovered right after a hit on a younger vampire. The killing was gruesome but she managed to get out unscathed. It’s a quiet, dim-lit place that looks like it’s funded very well. For a nice place like this, she wonders why it isn’t as crowded as it should. 

The male bartender that had been serving her had probably left his shift, left Kurumi on the barstool to drunk cry to herself, instead there was a taller woman, short hair, sharp eyes. She didn’t pay any attention to Kurumi, it looked like she just arrived as she fixed on a maroon apron over her white blouse. 

The new bartender moved past to serve others along the bar, then she came back after a while, when Kurumi’s throat was starting to feel dry. 

Kurumi feebly raises a finger, it’s trembling. “Another one.”

The woman slowly turns, it’s a bit suspenseful in Kurumi’s eyes, she puts down a small glass and meets Kurumi’s watering eyes. “Are you sure? You don’t look alright.”

“I’m alright, but I need another.” Kurumi groans, she doesn’t know why she’s suddenly getting frustrated but it isn’t working out well for her. Voices begin to whisper and some of the attention is on her now. 

“Now, is that a want? Or is it a need?” The woman peers at her almost mockingly, the attention in the bar is off of them, like she’s the hopeless drunkard of the night. 

“A need.” Kurumi starts to slur a little, slumping over on the bar with her glass in hand. “I’m a paying customer, and I think I should get another one.”

The woman takes the glass out of her hands easily, her smile is irritating. “I work here, and our policies keep us from letting you drink yourself to death.” 

“You’re serious?” Kurumi almost starts to raise her voice but the little bit of mindfulness left in her decides not to, thankfully. 

“Serious.” She sets the glass on the other side of the bar, where Kurumi couldn’t reach over if she tried. “Do you wanna talk about it? What’s going on?”

She huffs, crossing her arms and sitting back up. “I don’t think prying is a part of your policies.” The woman awkwardly chuckles, which makes Kurumi laugh a little. “But it’s your lucky night, it’s just.. Family?”

“Ah.” The woman pulls over a stool on her side of the bar and locks eyes with Kurumi. She gives the act of a good listener. “Do elaborate.”

“My.. Younger sister is coming back home from overseas tomorrow. And my other younger sister hasn’t..” Kurumi stumbles to create something more comprehensible and normal-human-appropriate. “She hasn’t been doing too well in school, she also kinda went on the run, I guess she’s staying at a friend’s house? But the point is that they’ve been avoiding each other.” She tries to think of what to say about Momohime, but it’s much easier than she thought. “The youngest sister is great, but not on her own. The other two aren’t so great right now, and I can’t support her, I work a day job and a night job. It’s starting to fall apart.” 

The woman hums, pouring Kurumi a cup of water. “I suppose your best course of action is to go and talk to the runaway, you can’t trust a teenager on her own.” Kurumi takes the water and downs it, the woman frowns and fills it again. “You should call the older one, tell her beforehand so she’s less shocked when she gets here, besides, it’s not like they’ll kill each other.” Kurumi lifts a finger, and the woman sighs. “Maybe they will. But you’ll be there, the youngest one should be too.”

“You’re right.” Her eyes are swollen, but her throat is a lot less dry. “I just feel like I’m not good enough for them, though. I need to be able to do more for them but I can’t. I was thinking of giving up.”

“Giving up shouldn’t be an option.” The woman pours herself a glass, leans over the counter a little. “You can be strong, you look the type. It’ll all work out in the end, one way or another.” 

“Thanks.” Kurumi feels herself slowly coming back, faster than expected, something’s in the water she suspects. “It felt good to let it out.”

“Good!” The woman turns around, like she’s hiding a smile. Kurumi doesn’t think twice though.

Kurumi needs to go home, it’s almost midnight now and she doesn’t think Momohime has gotten back from her training yet. But she could stay a little longer, the friendly bartender had piqued her interest, maybe it’s her turn to pry. “How is your family?”

“Oh, I don’t really have one.”

“I am so sorry.” Kurumi jumps up reaching to comfort the woman but the woman waved her off.

“It’s alright, I’m an only child, my parents left when I was young.” She starts to sit back down as she watches the woman start to unfold. The other woman doesn’t smile, but Kurumi still hasn’t been able to see her smile yet. “I lived with my grandmother, but over time she passed. Maybe one day, I’ll see my family again. But that day can’t come until I do what I must.”

Kurumi is speechless, she can’t really comfort her, the bartender already seems like she’s come to terms with all of it. “What do you have to do?”

“Taxes? Bills, take care of everything here so I can go and find them. Simple stuff.” The bartender shrugs it off, sighing. “But nevermind me, your family, have you come up with anything?”

“Oh, yeah.” The game plan is made on the spot. “Since my younger sister is coming home from working overseas, I think she’ll be able to help me out here. I could really use her help.” 

“Her name? If you don’t mind me asking.” 

“Kokoro.”

_ Six years ago. Paris, France. _

She first arrives in the plane from Tokyo at eleven years old. She’s just a small kid, her hair is still grown out long, she still fancies her blue car pajamas. But she’s been sent here on a very, very important mission. 

To kill vampires. 

The job seems unfit for a small child, killing vampire royalty in France, but she’d been training all her life. This could’ve been a suicide mission, for all she knew, but she never understood back then. When she thought about it, none of them did. 

It takes her a while, two years, she’s grown a little and she’s gotten used to Paris. It’s a pretty city, feels oddly congested, but her mind never strays from her task. 

She’s out that night, she has an associate in the area who had pinpointed the exact location of the targets that night, three individuals. After this, maybe she’d be able to go home. It was hard, she doesn’t know their faces, only their names, only their fangs. 

Kokoro, masked in the dark, shrouded in black clothing and silver weaponry, perched upon a building overlooking what looked like a mansion. She learns the name, the Yamazaki Estate. 

She plays the waiting game, until it’s late morning. Maybe she’d jumped in too early, because when she sneaks through a tall window the vampires immediately wake up.

“An intruder! Butler, maids, an intruder!” 

Her targets are not the servants, she manages to make way in broad daylight unnoticed. Up the grand staircase was the bedroom, cocking her gun she opens the door. 

Two frightened adults cower in the far corner of the room, they’re vampires, looking by their fangs. They’re the ones she’s looking for, looking in their eyes. 

She doesn’t hesitate to shoot them. 

Blood on the walls she makes her escape, before the authorities come to get her, she’ll be staying in France until she gets the third. She hopes it doesn’t take long. 

Four years later, she still hasn’t pinned the third one down yet. 

It’s a normal day in her new life, she’s totally embraced the fashion here (she loves it), and she loves the sun here. The sun is friendlier, but now it’s late sundown.

Kokoro happily wanders through new streets, a new plaza, she turns the corner to the shop she’s looking for but instead finds a small girl standing around a flower shop. 

“Oh! You! You’re perfect!” The small girl runs towards her, speaking in fluent French. What surprises her is that the girl looks like her, she looks Japanese. 

“Um, yes?” Kokoro stumbles towards the girl, confusion fills her expression. 

The girl hands her a bouquet, a bouquet of deep blue flowers. “A blue bouquet, for you! Have you ever read the poem? I think it’s in your eyes.”  
The streetlights come on, and she sees the hopeful glimmer in the smaller girl’s eyes. 

“I haven’t, but I will.” Kokoro awkwardly accepts the kind gesture. “Are you Japanese? I’m sorry if I seem like I’m assuming, but I don’t run into other Japanese people around here very often.” 

The girl nods furiously. “Yes! I moved here when I was a baby, but my late-parents made me learn, you know, keep in touch with culture.” 

The sun is completely down, and even though the sun isn’t out, it feels like it still is. 

They talk and talk into the night, for the next day, next week, next month, and the next year.

She learns the girl’s name is Yuhane, her last name Yamada. Kokoro’s world increasingly becomes more and more distracted as she finds a tether, a reason to stay. But at the same time she misses her family back home, so she tells Yuhane that she works nights and comes back in the morning. Yuhane understands her. 

Their friendship sparks into a closer friendship, then into a relationship. She learns that Yuhane loves flowers more than anything, loves fancy parasols, and loves Kokoro. They both think they have hearts that beat the same, or at least whatever poetry Yuhane had recited to her last night. Kokoro teases Yuhane that she’s a hopeless romantic (but not so hopeless, because she has Kokoro). 

The next year comes around, they’re eighteen now, when learning that they’re the same age Yuhane screamed in her left ear and she’d lost feeling in her arm for three days. Their one year anniversary was that day, Kokoro wants to surprise her girlfriend by coming home from work early. Yuhane had always complained that she didn’t have Kokoro to wake up with her. 

Kokoro walks up the stairs to their apartment, which Kokoro had been able to afford because of the high pay she gets for working overseas, with a red bouquet behind her back. Roses, yarrows, carnations, anything Yuhane had mentioned to her throughout the past years. The girl likes her reds. But not exactly in the way she had expected, not at all. 

She slowly and surely opens the front door as to not wake Yuhane from her sleep, except she’s terribly shocked at what she witnesses. 

Yuhane is seated at their kitchen counter, her hands on a red bag and held up to her mouth. She sees the pearly white fangs implanted into the plastic. Kokoro heats up in almost a rage, something else awakens in her. 

“Are you..?”

“It’s not what it looks like!” Yuhane immediately takes her fangs out, retracting them, but that backfires on her as blood spills onto the carpet from two fang-shaped holes. “It’s just.. Wine?”

“Don’t lie to me.” Kokoro’s tone tells Yuhane that she isn’t in the mood for silliness. Yuhane already has her mouth pressed shut, her bright red eyes avoiding Kokoro’s. “Yamada isn’t your real last name, is it?”

Yuhane pauses, turns around, turns back around, paces around the room, and stops in front of Kokoro. “It isn’t.”

“You’re the last royal vampire in France.”

“Correct, but I really don’t wanna be associated with that..”

“You’re the one I’ve been trying to hunt all these years.”

Yuhane exhales sharply, fiddling with her thumbs.“Yeah, I figured that out a couple months ago when you left some paperwork on your table. Not the best information to wake up to?”

Kokoro has to think, does her job really mean more than the vampire she’s come to love? What is it, her family, or her lover? Her integrity as a hunter, does that mean more to her?

She also considers what Yuhane has done for her in such little time. Yuhane wasn’t the vampire she’s come to know, she’s been conditioned to think that vampires were cruel, awful creatures that sought to kill for their own gain. Yuhane was the opposite. She’s kind, she’s cared for Kokoro for all this time. 

“Koko?”

“What?” 

Yuhane flinches at the sharpness of Kokoro’s tone.

“I don’t wanna die..”

Kokoro makes the decision in her mind, she knows what she has to do. 

“You won’t, but you’ll have to come back to Japan, with me.”

“I will.”

Before Kokoro can turn away, Yuhane hugged her tighter than she ever had before.

Kurumi comes back from the bar that night, it’s midnight now, she goes up the flights of stairs to their apartment and opens the door. Momohime is sitting on the couch like she’s been waiting for a while. 

“You’re back. Let’s go.”

She groans, she thought she’d be getting sleep tonight. “Where?” Kurumi asks even though she knows the answer. 

Momohime jumps up, already in her hunter’s cloak and gear. “To find Miimi. I think my gut tells me we’re finding her tonight!”

“You’ve said that for four nights in a row in just this week. Hime, I’m tired. I’ve gotta work tomorrow. You’re depriving me of the sleep I deserve.” Even though she’s protesting, she goes to the coat rack to grab her cloak. Momohime is almost jumping in excitement. Before she knows it she’s dragged out the door and back into the city. She didn’t drink enough, obviously. 

Momohime has guts, enough guts to run around like this. They walk down the same alley again, for the sixth time now, Minami has yet to show up. Kurumi really is starting to doubt Momohime. But Kurumi is restless, kept on watch in case one of those weirder cases of vampire shows up again, they do every time they go into this area on the west side of the city. The Federation hasn’t said anything about the issue yet, maybe she needs to report it. 

“Hey. Wait.” Momohime holds up her hand in a fast motion, and Kurumi stops behind her in her tracks. She knows the glare in Momohime’s eyes, she hears something. 

Kurumi nudges her shoulder for Momohime to keep leading the way, and she does. There’s one thing Kurumi can trust Momohime for, it’s her keen, almost vampire-like senses. 

They stalk forward till they reach a corner, Momohime looks back at her like she’s scared, so Kurumi looks over the corner for her. The dead end of the alleyway is covered in odd rubbish sloppily scattered along the ground. But in the center, under the broken street lamp, is a familiar figure, bent over a limp body. Kurumi almost gasps, and the figure notices her. Momohime goes pale as she hears sniffing in the air. A distinct, low growling hangs in the air. 

“Miimi!” 

Momohime jumps past Kurumi, excited and dashing to see her friend. She went too soon, tackled down by a feral creature of what used to be Minami. Minami looked like she’d been starving until then. Momohime is pinned down on the ground and Minami’s fangs are just inches away from tearing her apart. 

“Help! Kuru—” 

Kurumi lunges towards the two and tackles Minami over, struggling to hold Minami’s arms still and pins her down by the stomach using one of her knees. “Get her legs!” Momohime frantically reaches to hold down Minami’s flailing legs and pants. “Okay, I have an idea, don’t look.” Kurumi uses her right hand to hold down Minami’s hands over her head, and she pulls off the glove on her left using her mouth. She cautiously held her wrist in front of Minami’s fangs, clenches her teeth and braces for the pain that comes. 

Minami ferociously sucks at her wrist and Kurumi is wincing in pain when Minami is done. The light in her eyes is back, Momohime looks over and sighs in relief. 

“Miimi! You’re back! Oh god, I missed you so much you don’t know what’s happened these past few days there’s so much going on there’s these weird looking zombie vampire things and they’re like everywhere and—”

“I know.” Minami is stern, but she looks shaken and torn apart. Her clothes too, are torn and dirty. “I have so much to tell you guys, I found out a lot..” 

Two nights ago, the alley where she had been turned.

Minami is shivering in the cold, days after her last encounter with the mysterious vampire. Since then she’d seen too much, learned too much. That’s why she’d agreed to meet the vampire again. To learn more.

A voice hums behind her. 

“I didn’t expect you to actually shoot me those nights ago. A little rude.”

Minami turns and snaps at the taller vampire, the one with the brightest eyes she’d ever seen. “I didn’t expect you to survive. You’re a vampire, how did you survive a silver bullet?”

The vampire laughs at her, Minami’s cold blood boils. “Never tried to kill royalty? I mean, real royalty.” 

“I don’t care. Get to the point.”

“I want you to join us, Minami. Join the winning side, will you?” The vampire stares at her, looking down on her, and she hates it. 

“You’re not winning. You’re disgusting, you wouldn’t succeed.”

The vampire’s laugh echoes through the dark alleyway, it’s so dark she can barely make out the vampire’s figure, just her eyes. “You don’t know what you’re capable of.”

“Why would I ever side with you? Why would I even help you?” Minami shouts, tears are starting to flow out of her eyes. 

“Why?” A cold hand meets her shoulder, and she shudders in fear. “You could save all of us. Our kind will feel again, Minami. Don’t you want to feel again?”

“I’m _ nothing _ like you.” 

“You’re just like me.”

Minami shoves the hand off of her and screams. “You’re wrong!”

She can see the vampire’s toothy grin, fangs sharp and gleaming. 

“Let’s see how you survive without me. Your family will give up on you. They’ll leave you for dead, like the others, like them, you’ll go thirsty.”

“I am not.” Minami growls, her fists clenched. “I am _not _ going to become one of your zombies.”

“Oh,” that same phrase again, taunting her mocking her, “you will.”

And she does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year friends!


End file.
